Creeping all round the house

That's his favourite place

Till the beginning of this week Raghav was just curious about Nalin's books lying under the TV cabinet. He would creep up to them and pull them down to the floor. But once they were down, he'd creep away, having spotted something else. But two days ago, he pulled one of the books down, flipped the pages and then tore off the first page! He was really going at it when I grabbed it away from him.

I have had to baby proof the house a little bit now.

He seems to like room corners and also loves to creep under the table. Sometimes he gets under a table and then lies there thumb in mouth, tired with the effort that has taken him to get under the table.

He's been chewing bookshelves and creeping behind tables to get at TV wires.

I took him with me to the kitchen today (because he can't be left alone in a room anymore) and he crept straight to the radiator and started chewing the radiator pipe. Thankfully the heating is off nowadays, and the radiator isn't hot.

Rolling around in the cot

I also leave him on our bedroom floor in front of the mirror when I'm getting dressed in the morning, and he gets very excited looking at himself in the mirror. But that excitement lasts a second, as he moves away quickly, trying to chew my boots that lie there or towards the bookshelf and starts pulling down papers from it.

He crept out of the living room the other day. He's never left the room on his own before. I guess he came looking for me. But then got distracted with the landline wires lying near the door. (I really must baby-proof soon.)

Whenever I lie him down in his cot, I go to check on him after five minutes and he's in the exact opposite direction, playing with his cot bumpers. They've been a waste. Most times when Nalin goes to get him in the morning, he's bumping his head on the cot wall, trying to go forward. Or he's playing peek-a-book with the cot bumpers. Or having a meaningful conversation with his blanket in hand.

I had washed his sleeping bag (which he always wears to sleep) one day, and while it was drying I was just putting a blanket on him while he slept in his cot. But every time he'd wake up, and I'd go to pick him up, the blanket would be off and he would be trying to literally climb out of the cot.

Raghav seems to have sworn never to sleep when he's out of the house. He screams and gets very high-pitched and hysterical, indicating strongly (and very loudly) that he's sleepy, but the moment I try to put him to sleep his cries and screams increase 10-fold.

We'd gone to Rebecca's place for drinks and dinner, and he refused to sleep even though his screeches told me he wanted to. But we went for dinner to an Indian restaurant the other day, and he was happy just sitting in my lap the entire time. Even on our walk back, we could tell he was really tired, but refused to lie in his pram and wanted to be carried back. Finally, he was so tired that he did ultimately nod off in the pram.

"I love it here!"

He also refuses to sleep on his back, like a regular person. Even though he knows how to turn and lie on his stomach (which is the most comfortable position for him to sleep), he doesn't know why he's getting irritated and keeps screeching and calling me so that I would put him on his stomach. The moment I do, it takes him two seconds to fall asleep.

Raghav gets so excited seeing his bowls and his food now. While I'm warming his food in the microwave and mixing his rice cereal and water in it, he's already banging his table and calling out. And when I do sit to feed him, his mouth is already open before I can scoop out a spoonful.

He always gets very upset when the food gets over, no matter how much he's eaten. I have come to a solution of handing him the spoon after his food is over, so that he thinks he's still eating.

He ate a biscuit all on his own yesterday, although I constantly worry that he's going to take a big bite and then not be able to swallow it.